Taggart was joyful at any ship, but what she really wanted was for Graves’s vessel to come through. She hurriedly checked both of the transited ships, but neither one was Graves’s. Her eyes moved back to the display, watching, almost trying to pull the desired ship through. And a moment later, a third ship emerged. She checked it again…and it wasn’t Graves’s vessel. But his was the only one left…and she was sure she would see it in a minute.

  Until the first vessel through cleared its system and communicated with her.

  “Commodore Taggart…this is Captain Clarke.” There was a pause, and part of Taggart knew why. But another section of her maintained a tenuous hope.

  For another few seconds at least.

  “The last ship has transited, Commodore.” She recognized the resentment in the man’s tone, not really directed at her, but there, nevertheless. “Captain Graves’s ship was destroyed four minutes from the transit point.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Highborn Flagship S’Argevon

  Imperial System GH3-2496

  Year of the Firstborn 391 (329 AC)

  “I want to know when we will have the first third of our ships back in the line, and I mean exactly.” Tesserax knew he was being unreasonable in asking such pointed questions so early, but he did it anyway. He’d come close, very close, to launching the renewed assault at once. He knew his force, especially with the four new—and still unknown to the humans—copies of the Ellerax, was powerful enough to prevail against anything the enemy had left.

  But the losses suffered in the just concluded battle were worse than even his most dire predictions, and he was edgy about chasing down the humans and finishing them off. If he knew they would cluster together, offer one final battle, he might have gone for it, but the thought of them splitting up, of a dozen or more small battles, was just too much for him…at least until his forces were somewhat repaired.

  Still, he’d just about been ready to overlook all of that and proceed forward immediately, when he’d received a communique from Ellerax himself. Tesserax had been sure his proclamation of victory would be received well, and it was. But he’d heard something in Ellerax’s voice, something he’d never heard before. It wasn’t fear, not exactly, but it was something close, and the Supreme Commander had asked him what forces he might have ready to deploy to the other front.

  That was upsetting, even if it was mostly conjecture. He knew the war had been going as it had for nearly two centuries, but now he found himself wondering if things had taken a bad turn, if the enemy’s fleet had won a decisive victory. That had, at first, pushed him once again toward advancing immediately, crushing the humans as quickly as possible. But as he thought about it, and the position a victory over the humans, followed by bringing badly needed reserves to the main front, would create for him, he had decided to wait, just a couple months. Until a third of his fleet was at least moderately repaired. That would give him more than enough power to quickly crush anything the humans had, and it would reduce the losses his forces would suffer.

  All at a cost of several months…perhaps four or five.

  He stared at the subordinate. “Well?”

  “Sir…I just don’t know yet. Six months?” The subordinate clearly saw that he wasn’t going to get six months. “Four?”

  “I asked you to tell me.” Tesserax knew he wasn’t being fair, that the aide hadn’t yet had the time to review the fleet’s status. But he didn’t care. He would be reasonable, at least he told himself he would, but he was impatient, too.

  “Four months, then. Honestly, sir, I don’t think we can do it any quicker…not with the time to move damaged ships to available stations and the like.” The officer sounded uncertain enough that he could complete the mandate in the stated four months. Tesserax wasn’t willing to allow more time, not yet at least, but he put the thoughts of two months out of his mind.

  “Very well…you have four months. Four months to have the ships back here, and ready to move out again.” He glared at the poor officer, one of considerable rank, but wholly subordinate to Tesserax. “Understood?”

  The officer was silent, just for a moment. Then he said, “Understood.”

  Tesserax nodded, and he realized that regardless of what his comrade had said, it was no better than a fifty percent chance that one third of the damaged ships would be ready in time. But he was sure of what he had said, and he planted his mind on resuming the offensive in four months…with whatever he had. However many of the damaged ships were ready in time, that is how many he would lead. The final offensive would begin in four months, and not a day later…and after the humans were defeated, his forces would then return to the primary front, and with any luck, save the day there as well.

  Tesserax thought about the situation, and he imagined that he would achieve great success, against the humans, and maybe against the old and hated enemy as well. That was a long way from the failure he’d almost gone home in, and he imagined what his place might be after it all worked out. He would advance, from his already high position to one even higher. Perhaps even to number two, to the second in the entire Highborn, the conqueror of one enemy, and the salvation of the fight against another.

  He stood where he was, trying not to let anything in his head out, anything except four months. He glared at the officer, and he said, “Very well…you’ve got a lot of work to do, and I don’t want to keep you here.” He flipped off a salute, responding to the one that had followed the acknowledgement of the four months, and then he turned and walked toward the door, his pace quickening with each step.

  * * *

  “Send the word…we have won. We have taken fleet base Grimaldi…or at least its position.” Percelax was annoyed with himself, at least over the four ships he’d lost to Grimaldi. He’d feared it would be rigged to self-destruct, but when it didn’t, he allowed himself to believe the enemy had forgotten.

  He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  His forces had won, there was no question about that. Even if the largest enemy ship had escaped. That had been unfortunate, but not terribly important. It had been badly damaged, as had most of the surviving fleet, and he had taken the system, and the position, at least, of the great fortress. It was a victory, and if he was somewhat surprised at the cost, he didn’t think that would make a difference in the end. The enemy was even worse off than he was, and that was all that mattered.

  “Yes, sir.” A moment, then: “Sir, we have received word from the main fleet. We are to hold our position and not attack.”

  Percelax smiled, his mixed temperament giving way to joy. “Advise them that we have invaded and taken the enemy station, and that we control the transit points leading deeper into the enemy systems.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Ask them if they want us to give it back?” He smiled as he said the words. He had expected the very orders that had just arrived…and whether or not he had lost a few more ships than he should have, he was in a good position. It would take some time to bring forward repair structures and send ships back to the Union for repairs…but the enemy was in worse shape, he was sure of that.

  The main enemy fleet could chase him away, he was sure of that…but he was also sure that it would be defeated by Tesserax’s forces, that in all likelihood, it already had. That meant it would be followed, closely, by the primary fleet…and whatever remained after the battle would be destroyed. Perhaps it would make it back, even compel him to retreat for a short while…but as far as he could see, the humans faced total defeat. His perception of them was that they were mixed, that some of their people would fight to the finish…but he also believed there were billions ready to give up, to yield. And his people controlled at least half of the Hegemony as well as the entire Union. That was at least half of the population of the entire area, of all humans living outside of the areas previously controlled by the Highborn. The war was almost over, at least in that sense, and despite the fact that he expected serious fighting to continue, he decided the war was as good as won.

  He had achieved what he had set out to do, attained a victory, one Tesserax couldn’t claim credit for. The overall commander would accrue most of the gain from the conquest, something even Percelex couldn’t argue with…but he would also get credit, serious credit. And he patted himself on the back and drew in a deep breath. He’d known his forces were sufficient to defeat the humans, but only then, he realized just how much he had also doubted success. Now, he had won, and despite the condition of his fleet, he knew the enemy wouldn’t have anything ready before he did.

  He smiled again, and then he returned to the mountain of work he had, the effort to restore his fleet to something resembling combat condition.

  * * *

  “We’ve received a communique from the fleet positioned with the forces in the Union. It seems…” Gelliax was normally very fast when reading messages, but now he paused, almost unwilling to proceed.

  Tesserax knew the message was a difficult one. He’d been both easy and difficult to get along with in his days commanding the forces fighting the humans, but he’d always been fairly kind to Gelliax. The man was a Highborn, much like himself, though he wasn’t from the initial group like Tesserax. Still, Tesserax had always believed he needed a few truly loyal types around him, and he’d been sure to treat Gelliax well.

  So, he was surprised at the subordinate’s…hesitancy.

  “What is it, Gelliax?” Tesserax was already worried, mostly about his recent communique from Ellerax, and the last thing he needed was something else that was wrong.

  “He moved far more quickly than we had anticipated, sir. Before the recent orders arrived—and that is confirmed, by the way. He attacked Fortress Grimaldi…”

  Tesserax tensed up, prepared for more bad news. But what he got was something else, something he wasn’t sure was too bad.

  “…and won, sir. The station was destroyed, and he controls the system.” There was a short pause, and then Gelliax continued. “He suffered terrible losses, sir, but he prevailed. He isn’t in a position to follow up, yet…but from all reports, the enemy is in even worse shape.”

  Tesserax paused for a moment, not sure whether he should be happy or sad. His orders had been clear, but he realized Percelax had actually done him a favor, and perhaps more, he had increased the pressure on the enemy. He decided that there would be enough credit to spare a bit for Percelax. He realized his subordinate had struggled to get his fleet in position soon enough to attack before the orders he had to know were coming arrived. If he had failed, Tesserax would have been cold, and he would have removed him from command at once. But he had succeeded, and Tesserax couldn’t help but feel some joy at the victory.

  Besides, it really put the pressure on the enemy. Barron would have to pull back now. He would have to abandon the rest of the Hegemony, whether his forces came or not. He couldn’t allow any of the truly crucial worlds of the Confederation to fall, not without a fight at least.

  But he didn’t have enough ships to mount a proper defense, not nearly enough to stop the Highborn’s main fleet. He almost changed his mind again, ordered whatever forces were ready to move forward immediately. But he held back, waited. He knew the next few months would do him more good than it would the enemy, and he could wait.

  He smiled, and then he sat for a few minutes, enjoying the situation. Then he got up and nodded to Gelliax. “Take command, Gelliax…I’ll be in my office.”

  He walked toward his room—actually, it was a suite of rooms—and he stepped inside, allowing the door to close behind him. He walked over to his desk, and he sat down, laughing as he did. The enemy was defeated…he was sure of it, even more certain than he had been before. That thought fed the smile on his face, and the laughter that burst out of him. For about twenty minutes, he felt great, almost invincible.

  Then, the door buzzed.

  He turned, surprised at the interference. “Yes?” he said softy.

  “It’s Gelliax, sir…I’m sorry, but I just received word of something…well, something strange.”

  Tesserax felt his stomach tense. His smile was gone, too. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew Gelliax well enough to decide that if the officer had come to his door, it was important.

  He reached around and pressed the button on his desk, opening the door. “What is it, Gelliax?”

  The officer stepped inside, allowing the door to close before he answered. “It may be nothing of any importance, sir, but…” He paused again.

  “Come on, Gelliax…just tell me.”

  “We just got word from one of our planets, one of the occupied Hegemony worlds. The enemy attacked, and they conducted some kind of operation. The inhabitants were expecting—something—but the ships just ran some kind of strange route…and then they left.”

  “Maybe it was a lost force, like the one a couple months ago.”

  “I might have thought that, too, sir, but…” Gelliax was silent, but just for a few seconds. Then he said what he’d come to say. “Sir, the leader of the colonial force, Zabbliax is his name…he ran a test procedure, and he discovered something…disturbing. He found Virus X, sir, alive and active. The enemy has Virus X, and they are bombarding at least some of our worlds with it.”

  Tesserax stared back, almost disbelieving. A full minute passed before he even spoke, and when he did, his tone had changed. “Virus X, you say? That is impossible…”

  But even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t…and he knew it was right.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  CWS Donallus

  Beta Telara System

  Year 329 AC (After the Cataclysm)

  Andi looked at the display, at the planet situated on her screen. There were a lot of places she wanted to go, and this wasn’t one of them…yet there was no place she’d rather be, not at the current moment. She stared at the planet, and at the twenty-four enemy ships lined up in front of it. It wasn’t the worst enemy force she’d expected to find, but it was bad enough.

  She could win the coming fight, she was sure of that, almost at least…but it would cost. It would cost a lot. Perhaps even too much to leave her enough vessels to bombard the planet. But the planet had already been attacked, several months ago. All she had to do was capture a few Highborn, and one or two ships could do that.

  Maybe.

  “Bring the fleet to battlestations…prepare to attack the enemy.”

  “Yes, Andi.” Tarren’s voice was a bit parched. The past five systems had possessed fewer ships in total than the current one. But Andi’s old companion was still there, ready to do whatever had to be done.

  She just looked forward. She could think of a hundred things to do better than sending a force directly here, taking the Highborn where she’d first struck…but each of those things had negatives, too. And, despite the fact that she was going to lose ships and personnel, she was almost sure she would win.

  The naval fight, at least. The ground assault that would follow was something entirely different.

  She looked past the enemy ships, to the planet. She was glad, at least, that the Highborn had destroyed all of the orbital facilities, and the ground installations…the Highborn had, or the defenders had. If the planet had all the defenses it had during its years as a Highborn world, she would likely lose the fight. But the enemy hadn’t spent any time rebuilding such defenses. They had poured all their efforts into constructing ships, enough to crush the combined Confederation—Alliance—Hegemony fleets.

  But not enough to defend your conquered planets…

  Andi stared, her eyed fixed on the planet. Her fleet would probably win the fight, and as long as a few ships survived, she would complete her mission. Assuming the enemy still didn’t know what was going on, which she knew was somewhat of a risk.

  She wasn’t sure where Barron was, but she had a pretty good idea where he would jump to if he had to retreat from the position she still believed was his current one. She was one of the few who knew it, of course, and she realized that Barron had made a decision. He would fall back to the border of the Confederation if the enemy appeared to be moving on him.

  Whether or not Chronos and Akella went with him was another matter. Even if they did go with Barron, there was no guarantee the Hegemony fleet wouldn’t split up. And that would only make things worse than they already were.

  But her thoughts were mostly focused on the planet and fleet right in front of her.

  The enemy ships opened fire first, as expected. And two of her ships were destroyed almost immediately. That wasn’t good, even though she knew it was just the effect of poor randomization, but she stood where she was, looking at the battle, but not saying a word. The enemy didn’t have any battleships present, but neither did she…so even though the distance was lower than the range of Confederation heavies, the enemy still held the advantage.

  For three minutes more…

  Atara had never considered herself a naval strategist, though that was silly. She had commanded Pegasus for years, and she had led all sorts of fleets on desperate missions over the past fifteen years. She’d thought of Pegasus as something else, a single ship, and a small one. And the various missions she’d led, all successfully, were still exceptions to her. It didn’t make much sense, and she certainly rated the commodore’s rank Barron had given her. Except in her own mind.

  Two minutes…

  After the initial barrage, the enemy slowed down. The initial accuracy of their munitions fell, closer to norms, and she lost only another ship. She noted that the enemy was focusing on individual vessels, trying to take them out before targeting another. That was a good strategy, mostly…but she realized that it just meant she would be left with mostly lightly damaged survivors, instead of a whole fleet that was battered. That was particularly good, since she was heading home with whatever was in top condition…and leaving everything badly damaged behind. She would hate herself for it, she knew—she despised abandoning ships, even those badly battered—but she had to get at least some of the Masters back. If the first attack had worked, they would all be infected, and she was confident that she could get out of them, whether or not there was an effective antidote. Those were the two main barriers to her thought of the enemy’s defeat…whether the virus actually worked, and whether the enemy had developed an antidote. She knew that even if the virus was effective, it wasn’t a guarantee that her side would win. How the enemy would react was a serious question.